Man Made Church or Church of the 'I AM'

I would say that the majority of what we call the Christian walk of faith is drummed up in our own imagination. Unknowingly we have made God in our own image. Every sincere believer has a part that is true, yet around this marvelous essence we have built a culture of familiarity that gives us a tangible security. No matter how you try to explain it, to walk with an invisible God is not easy. That is why people build idols or see gods in trees or animals. You can see them and touch them. We shape them to our own imagination. To turn this around and let the True God shape us is another thing. We are not in control and we don’t like it. Our conscience mind will not admit this, yet our sub-conscience is involved in a war with God on who will be the master of our own domain.

I have been the speaker in a number of conferences long time ago. I was even called a Prophet. I flowed with other so-called Prophets. It was good to be with people of like-mind and for a while it was what I needed. Soon after feeling more familiar in this realm, I as always, was about to sabotage this ministry by analyzing my motive. This is the annoying thought process, though agonizing has saved me from many deceptions but often has alienated my life.

Culture is the church's reason for drifting away from God and building a golden calf. It is the true Prophet's biggest nightmare. Well, it was mine even though I have difficulty identifying myself as a Prophet. This is where you will probably be hit with a few stones and if you had a good reputation, forget it. From church to church, you will be blamed for every fault in the Body of Christ for what? Telling them that they left God at the last curve. Extremely blessed is the church that is broken by accepting the fact that they are making God in their image.

The Prophet club was very damaging. We built the highest man made structure. Behind us were the words “This is what the Lord is saying.” I said I was a conference speaker. What I didn’t say was that in my hotel room at night I was very lonely. As a young man I did more than my share of street drugs. I lived for the high. As a Christian and leader, praise was a rush. The anointing was a rush. The whole conference was a rush. When I was alone, I came down from the golden calf in my ministry and was alone. The secret world of most of us was not the example to follow.

When the gift takes a higher place than the desire for His presence, we make a culture around the gift. There is the Apostle culture, Prophet culture, Pastor culture, Teacher culture, Evangelist culture, etc. The church that is now in the making will not have culture. As Moses found out the name of God is “I AM.”  Meditate on this, it will change your life. Try to explain, “I AM.”  You can’t because He is fashioning you after His own image.

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